Orthofix International NV (NASDAQ:OFIX) has seen a decrease in hedge fund interest of late.
In the financial world, there are a multitude of methods shareholders can use to monitor Mr. Market. Some of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite hedge fund managers can beat their index-focused peers by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Just as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are a number of motivations for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).
Consequently, it’s important to take a glance at the latest action encompassing Orthofix International NV (NASDAQ:OFIX).
How have hedgies been trading Orthofix International NV (NASDAQ:OFIX)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies had the biggest position in Orthofix International NV (NASDAQ:OFIX), worth close to $6.8 million, accounting for less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Jacob Gottlieb of Visium Asset Management, with a $5.8 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that are bullish include Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
Since Orthofix International NV (NASDAQ:OFIX) has faced declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, we can see that there lies a certain “tier” of funds who sold off their full holdings at the end of the year. Interestingly, Richard Schimel’s Diamondback Capital said goodbye to the biggest investment of the 450+ funds we track, worth about $12.6 million in stock., and Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $4.5 million worth. These moves are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
What have insiders been doing with Orthofix International NV (NASDAQ:OFIX)?
Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Orthofix International NV (NASDAQ:OFIX) has seen 1 unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Orthofix International NV (NASDAQ:OFIX). These stocks are MAKO Surgical Corp. (NASDAQ:MAKO), The Spectranetics Corporation (NASDAQ:SPNC), NxStage Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTM), ABIOMED, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABMD), and Greatbatch Inc (NYSE:GB). All of these stocks are in the medical appliances & equipment industry and their market caps are similar to OFIX’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| MAKO Surgical Corp. (NASDAQ:MAKO) | 13 | 2 | 0 |
| The Spectranetics Corporation (NASDAQ:SPNC) | 12 | 1 | 2 |
| NxStage Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTM) | 17 | 0 | 2 |
| ABIOMED, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABMD) | 12 | 1 | 1 |
| Greatbatch Inc (NYSE:GB) | 13 | 0 | 1 |
With the returns shown by our time-tested strategies, retail investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Orthofix International NV (NASDAQ:OFIX) is no exception.
